


Of a Mechanical Nature

by auburnmaven



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-07
Updated: 2015-03-22
Packaged: 2018-03-06 12:20:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 4
Words: 21,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3134276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/auburnmaven/pseuds/auburnmaven
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bulla has been written off as having reached her full potential and Vegeta will not take her training further. She finds an unexpected training partner who will help her push herself. Disregards GT.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm using Bulla as her name for the purposes of this fic (I could not take myself seriously when I was calling her Bra in my head). Also, GT is completely ignored. There are some things that Toriyama has mentioned in interviews and such that might appear here and there.

“You cannot be serious.”

 

“I really can.”

 

Bulla stared at her father with indignation, refusing to give up. “I can get stronger.”

 

“Maybe, maybe not. Doesn’t change my answer.” Vegeta wasn’t even looking at her, instead staring at the controls to the GR with intensity.

 

“I don’t understand this. You have railed Trunks to take his training more seriously for _years._ Yet you have been handling me with baby gloves and now you won’t work with me at all. _What the hell?_ ” She was shaking from anger.

 

Her father looked into her eyes. “Trunks is a natural fighter. You are not.” When she opened her mouth to respond, he shushed her with a gesture. “It has nothing to do with being a female. Your saiyan blood has given you all it can. Your strength is not insignificant, but I have taught you all I believe we can manage without taking you to levels you can’t survive. Your human side is too dominant. Continue on your own.” His focus was back on the controls. Bulla wasn’t backing down.

 

“I’m not asking to become a super saiyan. At this point we all know that is not going to happen. But I know that I haven’t reached my limits yet. How many times were you told to give up because something was out of your reach?” She reached out and touched his arm, a gesture from when she was a small child. “I know you understand what I’m saying. Please.” He turned to her again she saw quiet anger in his face.

 

“Do not use my past to try and manipulate me. The issues are not the same. You were born barely clinging to life and have grown stronger every day, but you are not built to withstand anything more that what I have already taught you without risking death. That is the end of it. _Now go.”_ Recognizing defeat for the moment, Bulla left the GR fuming.

 

She mentioned it to Trunks at dinner that night. “He’s not wrong. Besides, your power level is in the six digits resting and in the millions when you focus. That is nothing to scoff at.” She rolled her eyes.

 

“You and Goten both hit nine digits powered up. Don’t patronize me.” She looked at him hesitantly. “All I really need is a sparing partner. Pan is still adventuring around the world looking for the Dragon Balls. What if I sparred with the two of you once or twice a week?”

 

Trunks choked on his coffee. “Goten and I would both never fight you with enough strength to actually do damage. That’s not out of love, though I am fond, it’s because Dad would maim us both and you know it.” Bulla laid her head on the table. He pat her on the back reassuringly. “Don’t give up. Ask around and see if anyone strong enough to present a challenge is willing to risk our father’s Final Flash.”

 

For the next month Bulla hunted down all the z-fighters she could from her mother’s address book. Gohan was her first stop. While he didn’t seem intimidated at the idea, he didn’t seem willing to invite trouble either. Yamcha gave up fighting long ago. Tien would not even talk to her once she explained who she was. She went to the lookout looking for Piccolo. He wasn’t there, but Dende said he had a feeling he knew what the answer would be. Kame-House was her last stop. If nothing here bore fruit, she was ready to call it and see how far she could get on her own. Krillin laughed and explained that he was too rusty even if he wasn’t terrified of Vegeta. Eighteen just said no.

 

Bulla was flying a few miles away from the island when Eighteen was suddenly beside her in the air. “I wasn’t going to suggest this in front of my husband, but you could ask my brother.” Bulla could not have been more surprised.

 

“Seventeen? I heard he doesn’t talk to anyone, really.” Eighteen nodded.

 

“He works on this mountain reservation outside of West City. His main job is keeping away poachers and maintaining the environment. I visit every once in a while.” She looked in the direction of West City. “Some social activity would not go amiss. I’m not saying he’ll say yes, but I know he misses fighting has well. Here is the address. He lives in the only cabin in the whole area.” Eighteen held out a piece of paper. When Bulla reached out to take it Eighteen held onto it and leaned in close. “If he agrees, _do not tell anyone you are training with him_. I don’t want him hurt because you and your father are having a petty domestic dispute.”

 

Bulla understood. “I promise.” Eighteen let go of the paper and flew back into her house.

 

The mountain reservation was not hard to find, but the cabin took hours to locate through the heavily wooded area. It was sunset by the time she found it. She walked up and knocked on the door. No answer. Bulla stretched out her senses and didn’t pick up anything. Should she wait for him? When the door opened she jumped. The young cyborg still looked the same as in the pictures she had seen from Eighteen and Krillin’s wedding. Dark hair fell to his shoulders. And a darker skin tone than his sisters’ brought out his artificially blue eyes. His clothes were practical for his profession. Jeans and a heavy over shirt with boots. She wanted to hit herself when she remembered that trying to sense him was pointless. Seventeen and Eighteen lived off of the technology within their own bodies, not producing any energy to sense.

 

“Hi. I’m-”

 

“I know who you are.”

 

She felt herself shift uncomfortably. “Oh. You spoke to Eighteen?” He scoffed.

 

“Even if I hadn’t, your name is plastered on the T.V. on the regular basis.” She wasn’t sure what to make of that. She decided to go straight to the point.

 

“Would you be interested in training with me?”

 

“Why would I be interested in that? My fighting skills will not increase or decrease based on practice. Unlike yours.”

 

_Why is he being so difficult?_

 

“You must not get the opportunity to fight like you used too. It’s something else to pass the time. Why not?” His eyes narrowed.

 

“I don’t feel the same drives to be with other people like you do. Company of any kind is not a requirement.” Everything was silent for a moment. She was ready to give up and go home when he spoke again. “I do miss fighting someone who can actually take a hit, though.”

 

He walked out of his cabin and leaned against the closest tree. “I like games.” She arched an eyebrow at him and waited for him to explain. “We are going to make this a game. What’s sparring without some incentives?”

 

“What kind of incentives?”

 

He smirked. “Whatever we like. Our first fight will be right now. If I win, you have to walk through the mountains to the cabin for our… sessions.” He met her eyes.

 

“Why would it matter to you if I had to walk here?”

 

“Your prissy. It would bring me pleasure to see you struggle with actual wilderness and perhaps even _learn_ your surroundings.” She felt color rush to her face.

 

“You just met me. I am not _prissy.”_ Bulla could see the amusement dancing in his eyes. Seventeen lifted his hands in the air nonchalantly.

 

“I’m not judging. You haven’t seen much besides the inside of a multi-million dollar mansion in your lifetime. Anyone who shows up looking for a fight in the mountains wearing six hundred dollar boots is prissy _._ ”

 

She looked her shoes self-consciously. “What if I win?” His grin remained.

 

“I don’t see that happening. Not today. On the off chance it does, you could make a similar demand of me.” He stood up from the tree. “Any cheating and the game is over. No more sparring.”

 

“Is there any way to remove the incentives?” Seventeen had put a great of thought into this.

 

“Simple. All you have to do is win. If six months go by and you still haven’t beaten me, I get to add another one. Sound fair?” He held out his hand. Bulla thought about it for a moment before shaking his hand. It didn’t seem that terrible.

 

She hadn’t let his hand go for less than a second before he disappeared before her eyes. Bulla looked around for a moment before she felt a sharp pain in the small of her back. She doubled over only to be knocked into the nearest bush. Has soon has Bulla got her breath back she waved her hands in the air in a time-out gesture. “I didn’t realize we had started. That’s not fair.”

 

He materialized in front of her, narrowing his eyes. “Giving warnings and going easy on you is not part of the _rules_. You’ve never been an actual fight have you?” He didn’t wait for her answer. Seventeen was leaning against the tree again when he gave a sigh. “I win today. This might be more boring than I thought.”

 

Bulla had finally managed to stand up. That jerk had pushed her into a bush full of _thorns._ She was covered in tiny cuts. “Now hold on-”

 

“Will this be too much for you? If you can’t handle it, go home and go it alone.” The reminder of her father’s words made her stiffen. They stared at each other. Seventeen looked at her with disinterest. Bulla knew that he was being who he was. She needed to be who _she_ was.

 

“It’s fine.” She spoke through gritted teeth. “Tomorrow?”

 

“Day after tomorrow. I may not feel soreness and fatigue, but you do. That would be unfair.” He gestured to the surrounding woods. “I will clear out the area around the cabin to make a better arena. Be here at five o’clock. We are done at six. If walking through the woods is too hard and you are _not_ here by six, you will help me with my chores to make up for wasting my time.”

 

“ _Fine.”_

 

“Alright then.” Seventeen disappeared again and she heard the cabin door shut.

 

Two days later Bulla stared at the entrance to the mountain with irritation. Why did she let him set all the rules, exactly? But she refused to give up so easily. Has long as she kept to the general direction of the cabin she should get there eventually. It would help if he had some kind of _ki_ for her to track, but apparently she had to do this the old fashioned way.

 

The journey started out easily enough. The foliage didn’t disrupt her direction too much. Then suddenly the woods become denser and denser. She would hit a cliff she had to go around because flying was against the rules. After the sun set it became harder and harder to tell what direction she needed to be going in the first place. The weather didn’t make it any better. Bulla was seriously considering ditching her shoes and socks entirely. A half-moon was visible when she finally saw his cabin. The area around it had indeed been cleared. Where there had once been thick trees, there was now smooth grass. _How did he do all this in two days?_ Bulla pulled out her phone to check the time. It confirmed what she had already suspected. _Six thirty-two. Damn._ Seventeen appeared on the porch and puts his elbows on the railing. His face showed no emotion. “I know. Just tell me what I need to do.” She didn’t give him a chance to rub it in. He pointed in a general left direction and flew that way. Bulla followed.

 

“You have a heightened sense of a smell, correct?” Bulla debated answering him. What does that have to do with anything? Oh well. She doubted he would be asking if it wasn’t relevant.

 

“Yeah. Why?” His pace began to gradually slow.

 

“If you smell anything metallic besides the fence, let me know. Can you tell the difference between animal and human blood?”

 

“Not without being up close. I thought there weren’t any people here besides you?” At that he glanced at her and came to a stop. He turned to face her.

 

“The eco system mainly takes care of itself. My time is mostly used dealing with those who come for the animals.” Bulla nodded.

 

“Poachers.”

 

“Yes. They like to leave traps for the most part. Every once in a while they get caught by a bigger predator and become the meal.” He closed his eyes and shrugged. “I suggested that it was justice in it’s own way, but the owners don’t want the animals blamed for a human death. Something about ‘murder’. So I drop them off at a hospital if it comes to that.”

 

He pointed to a ridge in between two of the bigger hills. “I once found an idiot over there who nearly lost a leg in his own trap. The human race at it’s finest.” He looked back to her. “But apparently even a daughter of the great saiyan race can’t handle walking in a straight line, so maybe it’s organic individuals altogether.” Bulla felt her temper flare up.

 

“You’re organic too aren’t you?! Just with bits added.” Seventeen crossed his arms and his face became blank again.

 

“Not really. Though many of my inner workings remain from before I was altered, even those parts now function very differently.” He began to fly again, Bulla in tow. “Do you small anything that could be mechanical in nature near us? Besides me.” She closed her eyes and took in the various scents around her. The earth, the animals, herself and Seventeen. Then a tangy scent caught her attention, one she had caught from her father’s many destroyed training bots.

 

Bulla pointed to the northern ridge of the mountain closest to the city. “Something that uses sulfur is down there.” She stretched out her senses and found something else. “There is also a weak human life signature.” Seventeen nodded and they flew down in that direction.

 

Sure enough, there was a short hairy man in a terrible hat attempting to shoot an elk. He was so started by seeing them coming down from the air that he immediately ran. It was probably too much, but Bulla couldn’t resist using extra speed to appear in front of him and scare him too badly to ever want to come back. This backfired when he attempted fire his shotgun at her. She dodged easily enough and took his gun, breaking it in half. The hunter went straight for the fence, fleeing the inhuman girl. A distressed chirping caught her attention and she saw Seventeen kneeling next to a small bird. “The shot to the tree shook him out of the nest before he was ready.” He was attempting to gently pick up the little bird, but it was running from his petit hands. “He needs to go back in the tree.” She rolled her eyes at him.

 

“Your too intimidating when you chase after it like that.” Bulla picked up a small worm. She knelt next to him and held out her hand with the worm in her palm. After a few moments it eagerly jumped into her hand for the worm. She lifted herself a few feet toward the nest. When she attempted to place the creature back into it’s home she found another baby bird had jumped into her hand it fight for the food. “Hey now.” They travelled to her arm where she nudged them back into the nest as gently as possible. Once they were safely home she found Seventeen looking at her oddly. Strong emotion was behind hid eyes. It almost seemed… sad. She once again wished he had some kind of energy signature for her to read.

 

“What?” Her voice seem to shake him from his thoughts.

 

“Nothing. Just thinking of a friend.” He left it at that.

 

For the next several hours they scoured the ground any time she smelt the saltiness of rust or the bitterness of iron. The moon and stars where the only light by the time he declared them finished. She felt disgusting. They had dug up no less than five metal contraptions from pits filled with mud, slime, and she hesitated to think of what else. “If you can’t smell, how to find all the traps?” They landed in front of the fence.

 

“I only fly ten feet or so from the ground and look for the disturbed earth.”

 

“That must take half the night.”

 

“I do it until sunrise usually.”

 

She gaped at him. “Wow. No wonder you resent wasting an hour waiting for me.”

 

“See you day after tomorrow. Try to make it in time so we can do some actual fighting.” He turned away from her and was getting ready to go, when she felt she had to point something out to him.

 

“You don’t, you know. Smell mechanical. You smell like this place mostly, the animals and the trees. There’s a hint of whatever cheap soap you use. It smells like watered down benzoyl peroxide.” He gave her a curious look over his shoulder and she added. “Thought you should know. It’s probably not that different from how you smelled… before.” That curious looked remained for a moment before he turned away from her. Bulla was about to leave when he responded.

 

“I wouldn’t know. The only human memories I have are of the first alterations made by Dr. Gero. Pain is all I can reliably recall.”

 

He left her alone in the heavy silence.

 

Bulla didn’t even realize the next morning was Saturday until she was walking out of the house. Goten’s voice coming from the couch asked her what she was doing waking everyone up so early on the weekend. Unwilling to admit she thought she had school she retorted with, “Maybe I have things to do. Unlike some people.” Goten was sitting up with circles under his eyes that almost looked like bruises.

 

“Anything that requires you to get up on a Saturday morning is not worth doing. Where were you coming from so late?”

 

“Working on school stuff.” He snorted and started heading for the kitchen.

 

“Come up with a better lie if your Mom asks. You have never had to work hard at school a day of your life.” He arched his eyebrows. “Boyfriend?” As per the custom in a house where sayians lived, the first few up cook enough for one human per human and ten humans per saiyan and then leave the clean up for last ones to wake up. He began handing her ingredients for pancakes while she started the stove.

 

“Yeah. Sure. Super hot debauchery was had by all.” They were both mixing and cutting.

 

“Not a boyfriend then. That leaves drugs, rock n’roll, or fighting.” She was now pointedly ignoring him while pouring mix on the pan. “I’m going to figure it out eventually. Might as well tell me.”

 

“Worry about your own life before you butt into mine.” He laughed at that.

 

“You are on _fire_ this morning!” When they sensed Vegeta heading down stairs, she gave him a pointed look and he gestured zipping his mouth closed. Vegeta made enough of a contribution (setting the table) to justify sticking Trunks with the clean-up and then sat down and glanced with irritation at Goten while he and Bulla were placing breakfast on serving plates.

 

“Why are _you_ here? You have your own parents to bother, don’t you?” Goten sat next him began serving himself.

 

“Trunks and I went out last night and this one guy gave us-”

 

“Never mind. I don’t care.”

 

“Be nice.” Bulma Briefs had appeared and Bulla began to dutifully make a plate with human sized portions for her mother so she wouldn’t have to fight for food like the rest of them. Bulma gave her daughter a thankful smile before turning to her husband. “Besides. We have bigger fish to fry. Like finding out why our daughter got home at one in the morning. I would personally like to know before you all start killing each other over eggs.”

 

“Busted!” Bulla kicked Goten under the table.

 

“Who’s busted?” Trunks took the last empty seat.

 

“Your sister stayed out most of the night without permission.” Vegeta’s hungry eyes turned to her. He wanted to eat, so he wanted this resolved quickly. “Where were you?”

 

“With a friend.” His eyes hardened.

 

“Do better than that.” She was getting irritated herself. Since when was she under a microscope?

 

“You caught me. My drug dealer was late, so I had to get a fix from my pimp. Went through five Johns to pay for it.” Bulla immediately knew she had gone too far. Her father stood up and placed his hands on the table. He didn’t slam them, but cracks appeared just the same.

 

“ _I will not tolerate such disrespect.”_

She shot her mother a pleading look but she received no sympathy. “Bulla, go to your room and stay there.” There was a minute or so of awkward quiet before she picked up her plate, served herself some food, and headed upstairs.

 

Bulla ate and read some books she had been saving. She was mostly upset with herself. Vegeta was the very last person you should be so flippant to. Bulla wanted to apologize, but she knew from experience that he would need a day or so to cool off before she should even try to talk to him. She also realized that it would complicate things if she was still grounded on Sunday when she was supposed to go back to Seventeen's place. It was past lunch when her phone alerted her to a text message. Trunks.

‘Way to go, Brat.’

 

She sighed and put her chin on the bed before typing her reply. ‘I know. Why is it you can fool around with every girl of legal age you can find and he doesn’t care, but I have one late night and it leads to a fight?’ Trunks’ reply was almost immediate.

 

‘It’s not that he doesn’t trust you. Go to the GR and talk to him.’ The serious tone of his message surprised her. She had always thought that she got along their father better than Trunks’ did. It couldn’t hurt to try. She slowly walked out the GR. Bulla allowed her nervousness to flare up her ki so he would know that she was approaching. She stood outside for a moments. She was already walking away when she heard the GR power down and felt her father’s ki also flare slightly. A signal to come in.

 

He was wiping sweat from his neck with a towel when he looked at her expectantly. “I’m sorry.” He was still looking at her expectantly. “I was out of line.” He turned away from her and let the silence settle in has he opened the drawer and pulled something wrapped in cloth from the bottom. He held it out for her to take. She complied and studied the cloth. It was alien in nature, from the days of freeza’s reign she would guess. She unwrapped the cloth and found a small jewel inside. It glittered strangely in the light.

 

“It belonged to a princess of a world that no longer exists. Not unlike you. I’ve forgotten her name.” He leaned against the controls and stared into her eyes. “She was younger than you are now, but her people aged a little differently. Their planet was rich with natural resources, and they were not fighters. Freeza sent me to purge it when I was still very young. Their people had unexpectedly developed technology that shielded the planet from any alien life forces. So I kidnapped their runaway princess and held her hostage. Their king naively thought he had traded his people for his child. He had in fact doomed both. Nappa, Radditz and I had purged the planet of all it’s inhabitants. The princess wept at my feet and offered me that jewel for her own life. She said it was a small piece of their most valuable resource. She claimed I could buy a kingdom with it.” Her father’s eye drifted to the wall behind Bulla and she had a feeling she knew how this story ended.

 

“I took the jewel and then let Nappa do has he wished with her. She lasted longer than many others.” He met her eyes again. “I used to keep it in case I needed money quickly. Now I keep it to remind myself of the evil that exists in my heart and the hearts of others.”

 

Bulla bit down on her lip. She couldn’t think of anything to say. He continued. “I know that you are stronger than most of the people on this planet. But there are still those out there who would hurt you simply because they can, especially because you are female. Keep that in mind when you think of hiding your whereabouts from us. Now leave me be.” Bulla placed the jewel on the controls and left.

 

She felt like a spoiled brat. Her father had seen and _done_ some of the worst crimes of war, and she was being petulant because they wanted to know where she had been. Where did that leave her training with Seventeen? After the conversation she just had, she sincerely doubted he would accept her training with someone who in his mind was still the monster that had almost brought about a dystopian future. She would definitely have to keep that a secret in order to continue. Somehow she also doubted Seventeen would allow her to skip out on her little _incentive_ in order to appease an overprotective father.

 

The only way Bulla could see preventing another incident was to make sure she didn’t have to help Seventeen with his rounds again. Which meant she couldn’t get lost in the woods.

 

Bulla arrived at the entrance to the mountains forty-five minutes earlier than she did last time. Instead of trying to remember the general direction of the cabin, she looked at the sun as it was getting ready to set and used that to determine which way to go. She was already off to better start. While the way got a little confusing every once in a while, there was some measure of reassurance in knowing that she was making better time than on her last attempt. When the cabin finally appeared in her peripheral vision, she ran to his door and knocked. Her opened it and arched his eyebrow at her. “Congrats, you don’t have to help me with rounds.” Bulla sat down on the railing of his porch and began to put her small backpack down. “We will not, however; be sparring.” She stared at him, confused. Then she took out her phone. _Five fifty-eight._

“Oh.”

 

“Maybe tomorrow you can actually get in her time to attempt to throw a punch at me.” Bulla felt her frustration beginning to come to the surface. _What in the hell am I doing this for?_

“What is the point of this? To punish me for never having been there to save to world? _Why did you agree to spar with me if we are never actually going to fight?”_

 

“We fought on the first day you came here. I beat you in two hits before you started spewing excuses at me.” Frustration gave way to real anger.

 

“ _I remember_. When you are sparring with someone it’s generally implied that-”

 

“When I watched my sister break both of your father’s arms, do you know what the first thing he did was? It wasn’t give excuses.” That caught her off guard. She hadn’t known that she had beaten him that badly. Bulla pushed her anger down. She was curious about what his answer was.

 

“What?”

 

“He disappeared for three days. The next time he appeared, he was toying with Cell’s form achieved from absorbing me.”

 

That stunned her. Then she remembered the part of the story he was missing. “He had been in the hyperbolic time chamber with a version of Trunks from another timeline.” That part of Cell’s story always varied depending on who told it.

 

“You’re not him. You are your own person. But there is something to be said for a saiyan’s tendency to arise from defeat stronger than ever.”

 

“…You don’t think I can fight you until I’m beaten down.” Seventeen shrugged and looked at the sunset with boredom.

 

“If you choose to see it that way. It’s also funny to watch a rich girl get her hands dirty.”

 

Bulla stood up and picked her backpack back up. “I can’t decide if you are messing with me or not.” He smirked at that and looked at her.

 

“You are always welcome to give up. Just don’t come back. That would certainly be the easiest option.” She felt something in her harden at being considered such a weakling. It must have reached her eyes. “I didn’t think so. Remember using any flying on the way here is cheating and the game is over.”

 

Suddenly his focus changed to something she couldn’t see. “It is six fifteen. I need to start my rounds.” The next second he had disappeared. She realized that he must need to stick his schedule pretty tightly if his rounds took all night. _How did this place survive when a human had this job?_

On her way home she thought about what she could do to make even better time than she did today. Short of school, all afternoon activities would have to cease. Once they actually started the sparring part of their meetings (which Bulla prayed would be soon), something told her Seventeen would not be holding back.


	2. Chapter 2

Bulla was really starting to hate these mountains. She didn’t mind having to wear practical clothes, but this heat was ridiculous. Make-up was a luxury she had long since given up for her training. Any hope of even keeping her hair looking neat was also gone. She didn’t like to think of herself has superficial, just someone who worked hard on her appearance. Or maybe she was superficial. Whatever.

 

She longed to leap into the air and fly to her destination. Nothing seemed better at that moment than the feel of the cool breeze for a few minutes before landing. But no. She had to walk. To learn her terrain and get used to her surroundings. Or something. Ugh. But she was determined not to have a repeat of what had occurred the last few sessions so she trudged on.

 

She had briefly considered that Seventeen was fucking with her and in fact had no intention to train her at all. The thought disheartened her, but she would not give up just yet. Her outfit seemed soaked through with sweat. She had never been a big fan of the heat. Trunks once pointed out that her saiyan blood gave her an incredible physical constitution in _any_ environment, which meant that she was just a whiner. The thought of her brother’s smug face pushed her forward.

 

After what felt like hours she found the little cabin in the middle of the woods. Seventeen leaned against the side of his front door watching her. He must have heard her approaching. “Congratulations. Today you managed to make it here without wasting the whole time wandering around the mountains like an idiot. We have-” He closed his eyes for a moment, probably checking an internal sensor of some kind. “-twenty-five minutes to train.”

 

Bulla was hardly going to complain. It was something. She knelt on the ground for a second and looked at him through bangs that were sticking to her forehead. “Got any water?” He started at her blankly. “Please?”

 

“twenty-four minutes.” She scowled at him and stood up.

 

“How do you want to start then?”

 

There was a blur at the corner of her eye and then a pain in her stomach that caused her to suddenly double over. “We start by fighting.” He was standing directly above her now.

 

Bulla spent a few minutes coughing before she managed to get out in between breaths, “there-is-usually-stretching-or-a-skill-learned-before-that.” He scoffed at her.

 

“I have never been in a real fight where they give you time to _stretch._ An enemy will not give you notice, or a chance to practice. If they see a chance for the kill they go for it. That’s how we train.”

 

She stood up. “Fair enough.” She went for a punch, but it was blocked. She tried to sweep his legs, but he jumped too quickly. Bulla was then knocked down by a fist connecting with her face. “How are you so fast? I can barely track you.”

 

“I could give you a detailed explanation of the mechanics that give me near limitless speed, but instead I’m just going to sum it up with one statement.” He leaned over just has she was propping herself up on her elbows. Their faces were inches apart. “I’m made that way.” His forehead then connected with her face and her vision went red for a moment.

 

He wasn’t going to get away with that one. She took advantage of their proximity to grab ahold of him and switched their positions. He was now pinned with his back to the ground and Bulla straddling him. She took both of his arms and pinned them above his head with one of her forearms, while the other she used to put pressure on his neck. “Interesting choice.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

“There is a significant flaw though.” She was surprised to see a grin on his usually unresponsive face. “You lack the upper and lower boy strength to keep me in this position.” He proved his point by throwing her off of him with has much effort has she would have given a fly.

 

“That makes six o’clock. Use the same entrance to the mountains and attempt to make it here on foot by five o’clock tomorrow if you wish to continue.” He walked into his cabin and turned slightly at the doorway. “I have water in here if you are interested before you go. The information that he had intended to give a break after the training eased her a bit for some reason. Bulla was no stranger to what he was. He didn’t need water to survive, to continue training without getting too sick or exhausted. The offer almost seemed kind when you considered that.

 

She walked in, unsure of what to expect. It seemed like a normal room fit for any person. A sink, a stove, a fridge, a bathroom, a T.V. and a bed were the most prominent objects. He must have seen her linger her gaze on the last one because his voice broke her thoughts. “I sleep. I don’t need but one a night a week, every few weeks if I need to push it.” He opened the fridge and pulled out a water bottle that he handed to her. “I also eat. I could go entirely without food and still survive without getting weaker, but the human part of me that remains will feel hunger.”

 

Bulla drank from the water bottle and considered him for a few moments. “What kind of food do you like to eat?” The question seemed to surprise him. She stared right back at him. “I understand not wanting to spend time and resources on something you don’t need, but you must have some preference.” Seventeen pulled back his hair that had fallen in front of his face in a gesture Bulla would almost consider nervous.

 

“I can’t taste has much as you can. One of those odd side-effects. Only really strong spicy and sweet flavors really… come through. Texture matters though.” He leaned back on his dresser and squinted his eyes in thought. “I suppose… raw tuna with wasabi is one of the more preferable dishes that I have had.” He stood abruptly. “It is six-fifteen, I need to go make rounds. See you in two days.” Then Seventeen was out the door and gone.

 

Bulla walked out the door and reached to close it. His jolting departures where hardly shocking at this point. Should she lock it? Probably. She twisted the door knob lock before she closed he door and flew home.

 

By the time she got to Capsule Cooperation it was dark. Bulla had a throbbing headache in between her eyes from that head butt and was exhausted to boot. She knew that she would attract attention if her ki was too laced with negative emotion on top of the pain and exhaustion, so she tried not to think about the fact that her first actual training with Seventeen mostly consisted of her getting tossed around like a rag doll. Assuming Seventeen was not holding back on her (she would be really surprised if that was the case) she held up better than her father and his comrades did a few decades ago when Seventeen and Eighteen first appeared. There was some small hope in that.

 

The light in the living room suddenly seemed too bright and she plopped herself down face first into the length of the couch. She didn’t sense anyone’s ki in the house. They must be out. She turned over to face herself up and tried to remove her focus from the pain. Her father refused to take _weak-ass human medication_ for every little discomfort so she would too if she wanted to be taken seriously.

 

“What the hell happened to you?” Bulla sat up, startled.

 

“What are you doing hiding your ki and sneaking up on people?!?” Trunks shrugged and pointed to her face.

 

“I think the more pressing issue is who exactly did you piss off?” He lifted her legs and sat on the far end of the couch, placing her feet on the other side of him.

 

“Don’t you have _secretaries to screw or a family fortune to spend_?” Trunks playfully rubbed his chest and mocked being hurt.

 

“Ouch little sister. I am genuine interested in what exactly you are getting so defensive about.”

 

“Maybe it’s none of your business.”

 

“Maybe. But Mom and Dad are going to think it’s _their_ business.” Bulla snarled at him. “I’m not saying I’m going to tell. Let’s make a deal. Satisfy my curiosity and I may consider offering a cover story.” Bulla mulled it over.

 

“I was training.”

 

Trunks arched his eyebrows. “Who has the balls to bat you around like that? No one who knows who our father is would dare, and even you would be wasting your time with the average person.”

 

It was Bulla’s turn to shrug. “I can’t tell you who. Vow of secrecy.”

 

“Please tell me it’s not Goten.” She giggled.

 

“No. It’s not Goten. He takes training about has seriously has you do these days.”

At that Trunks got up and walked to the end of the couch with his sister’s head.

 

“Lean your head back and close your eyes. Goku taught me this trick for head injuries.” She complied and Trunks placed two fingers on each of her temples. After a few moments the pain started ebbing away. “Useless in battle. You can’t do it for yourself. It’s just a matter of sending a bit your ki into someone else’s. Their ki will react like it’s an invader and push it out. This sudden burst of your ki in your head naturally lessons the pain and quickens healing.”

 

“How very Kakarrot.” Both Bulla and Trunks jumped a bit at their father’s voice.

 

“Am I the only one in this house who doesn’t walk around trying to scare everyone with their ki suppressed?” Bulla narrowed her eyes at her father.

 

“Maybe you should be working on your sensing skills instead of allowing yourself to be beaten to the point of needing your brother for assistance. Now who-”

 

“That would be me.” Trunks immediately chimed in. “We got into an argument and it led to blows. I lost track of myself.” Bulla didn’t think Trunks saw the anger flare in their Father’s eyes. Not because she was a girl, but because even the saiyan prince didn’t appreciate the idea of his son beating on those weaker than him for petty reasons.

 

“It was my fault, really. I was egging him on.” Vegeta’s eyes went to her and held her stare for a few moments. He turned away from them and walked away.

 

“Keep your secrets if both of you are so determined. _But do not make the mistake of lying to me again._ ” A door slammed shut.

 

Trunks looked at his sister with concern. “I hope you know what your doing. Dad may not have wanted to train with you, but I don’t know how well he can adjust to someone else doing it either.”

 

“It’s just sparring and some exercises. It’s not a big deal. _Why does he expect me to give up so easily when the two of you have broken ceilings in terms of power alone?”_

 

Trunks sighed and sat back down. “He may just not think that this is the right life for you.”

 

“I have a right to discover that for myself.”

 

Bulla made her track through the mountains again two days later has promised. Since she now knew the way it made it a bit easier. She also did not stop to talk to friends after school and bee-lined to the forest to give her the most time possible.

 

The way was still miserable, but she refused to be slowed down by her own limitations. When she saw him standing in the doorway she was beaming. He stared at her blankly “thirty-five minutes.” Bulla was ready to throw herself to the ground in frustration. She thought that last attempt had been so much better, but it had only given her another ten minutes. Oh well.

 

She stood up and got into a fighting stance. He didn’t need another invitation. Seventeen moved like lightning. He was there one second, and gone the next. When you are having so much trouble tracking someone there is almost no way to see weakness, or discern their style. The second day of actual fighting went much like the first.

 

Again she was invited into his cabin for water after she had managed to peel herself from the ground. This time he had a question for her. “Why aren’t you training with Vegeta or your brother?” She sat on the bed (there was no where else to sit) and leaned back, trying to find the right words to describe the situation. “For the same reason you refused to train with me at first, I guess. Too weak to waste time on.”

 

“I find it hard to believe that Vegeta would simply accept an offspring of his to be inadequate.”

 

“That’s the thing. I’m not inadequate. I’m just never going to be a super saiyan. He thinks that because I’ll never reach that level, there’s almost no point.” She looked into his eyes for this next part. “I’m nothing to scoff at. Apparently my power feels close to what Freeza was. The creature that had my father under his thumb for most of his life, that is where I’m at. It’s not much compared to you, or Goku, or my Father, but it’s not nothing. My father thinks I should let myself kind of _plateau_ where I am now since I am never going to be one of the ‘super saiyan strike team’. ” Bulla used her fingers to emphasize the title she had given to the legendary among her race.

 

He seemed to consider her for a few moments. “Why not one of the other humans? Their level of strength seems comparable to yours.” Bulla rolled her eyes at that one.

 

“My father scares that shit out of them, mostly.” She grimaced. “I guess he was responsible for most of their deaths at one point or another, so that makes sense.” She looked at Seventeen directly then. “Your sister pointed me to you when I asked her husband.”

 

He actually looked surprised at that. “Why would she think I would train with you if she wouldn’t?” Bulla only shrugged. She had wondered that herself. Seventeen abruptly looked up and began to say something when Bulla cut him off.

 

“Rounds. I know, go ahead. I’ll lock the door behind me. Two days, right?” He nodded and disappeared.

 

This became a routine. Over the weeks that went by she managed to get more and more time actually training and less struggling with the mountains. It was a month before she managed to land a blow that actually seemed to stun him for a moment. It was a short-lived victory. Seventeen had her in the dirt again a minute later. Her break though came when she stopped worrying about _seeing_ him, and more so worried about predicting where he would come from next. She started making steady improvements in their sparring when she implemented that strategy.

 

The conversations they shared afterward also proved worthwhile. She learned things about him that she never would have guessed (He hates alcohol and doesn’t get it’s appeal in human pop culture). She gave him some information that seemed to surprise him has well. (It struck Seventeen as odd that no one in the family seemed to feel the need to learn how to drive besides my mother. [We all fly, that’s why.]) Seventeen was honestly an easy person to get comfortable with. He said what he thought. Occasionally when he became annoyed his coldness would come out full swing and he may make a comment or two about killing people. Bulla mostly ignored him when he did that. If he was really interested in mass murder, he would have done it by now. _Maybe living with my father has desensitized me to that kind of thing._

 

Things went on this way for three months. I had just started to feel my ki increasing slightly form the work we were doing, as well as comfortable with my training partner. I had managed to damage Seventeen slightly. His wrist was bleeding and sparking slightly from a crushing grip I managed to land. Seventeen insisted that the cybernetic aspects would correct themselves in time. “Let me bandage it at least. That bleeding doesn’t look like it’s going to stop anytime soon.” He sat on the bed and gestured to the night stand. She dug in there for a few moments to find the bandage, but something else caught her eye. A string of four condoms were in the pile of stuff he kept these.

 

_What?_

 

She shrugged it off for the moment and brought the bandage to Seventeen and started to dress his wound. The sparking had already stopped. Bulla realized that if she didn’t ask curiosity was going to kill her later. “So… There are condoms in your nightstand.”

 

“There are four now, yes.” His face was completely unresponsive.

 

“What… are they for?”

 

“Condoms prevent pregnancy and the transmit-” Bulla cut him off.

 

“You get to use those… way out here?” She regretted the question has soon as she asked it. It was none of her business. She was ready to apologize when Seventeen spoke first.

 

“I go into the city every once in a while and look for that kind interaction. Dr. Gero designed us to be alluring. It usually doesn’t take long. No names are exchanged.” She tilted her head and eyed him with interest and a little sadness.

 

“You told me once that you don’t have those drives the way others do. Why then?”

 

He closed his eyes and thought about his answer for a while. Bulla sat on the bed next to him, trying to give him some space considering the personal terrain she had managed to hit. “Curiosity at first. Seeing what all the fuss was about… then…” He shrugged. “Just became something to pass the time.” Seventeen sat up and looked at her. “You?”

 

He had caught her off guard and she felt color rush to her face. It was only fair for her to answer questions she had just posed to him. “Me? No… I … haven’t had the occasion.” His eyebrows shot up at that. “It’s not that I’ve never wanted to. I’ve made out with my share of boys at school. There’s just something to be said for being able to trust someone enough to tell them who you _really_ are before jumping into bed with them. I’ve never reached the point where I felt comfortable telling someone that I’m actually a half-alien princess of a dead warrior race.” Bulla had finished the bandage and leaned back on the bed.

 

“My brother is not that picky at all. It’s amazing Capsule Cooperation hasn’t has a lawsuit on their hands already. I know my parents didn’t exactly start out in a place of respect and trust. I guess I’m the black sheep that way.” She realized that has she was talking Seventeen’s arm has not only continued to bleed, but had bleed through the bandage onto his shirt. Bulla cursed had has took off the bandage and got another one out of the nightstand. She dressed the wound again and put the dirty bandage in the trash.

 

When she reached for his over-shirt to clean it, he pulled away from her. “No.” That surprised her. She was only going to clean the blood off of the bottom with water. Something she had done for both Trunks and Goten many times.

 

“It’s covered in blood. Just let me clean it.” He stared at her with that blank face.

 

“I will do it later. It’s six-fifteen. Time to go.”

 

She left that day contemplating everything they had discussed. Bulla’s flight home was almost auto-pilot at this point. She had honestly just assumed that Seventeen lived a priest-like lifestyle alone in the woods. But apparently he did seek out companionship of some kind every once in a while. Is that why he had agreed to train her? She didn’t that that _he’s lonely_ was the right explanation. Seventeen had this odd sort of distance between him and the rest of the world. He seemed to want to close that distance, but at the same time keep it firmly in place. Interesting.

 

She was broken from her thoughts by a loud cry coming her way in the air. “Princess!” Ugh.

 

She stopped in mid-air. “Hello, Goten.” Goten stopped in front of her, still in gi from his afternoon class at the dojo. Bulla couldn’t help but wonder if the kids he taught realized their teacher was for the most part still a kid himself.

 

“What are you doing this far out of the city?” Bulla blinked for a second. She didn’t even realize that Goten’s dojo was in such close proximity with the mountains Seventeen maintained. She decided to give a bit of truth.

 

“I train in the mountains.” Goten touched the back of his head and smiled at her like she was still a child asking him for a piggy-back ride.

 

“What kind of training? With who?” Before she could respond, Goten gestured at the exposed bruises on her arms and legs. “Those are direct hits made with the intent to hurt. They all seem to be from different times too. You have managed to find yourself a hell of a merciless sparring partner.”

 

Bulla was getting frustrated. Why was this his concern? “It’s none of your business.” She flew off in the direction of home again. He followed.

 

“Just curious. There aren’t that many fighters who can hurt you like that and not at the same time put you into the hospital.” A thought suddenly occurred to Bulla. She stopped and turned to glare at him.

 

“You spoke to Trunks. You’re fishing for information.” Goten flushed at the accusation. “You and my brother can both _drop it._ I’m sixteen not nine. You have your lives, I have mine.” She began to fly away again. Goten continued to follow.

 

“He’s worried about you, Bulla. Whoever this is clearly doesn’t mind shedding your blood. It’s a bad idea to spar with someone who isn’t mindful.”

 

“Like all of the broken bones you and Trunks have shared over the years?”

 

“All on accident. Imagine what we could have done to each other if we had been trying to hurt the other one?”

 

“I’m not the delicate flower everyone seems to think I am. _I am the daughter of a super saiyan for fuck’s sake.”_

“You’re not a super saiyan, Bulla!” She snorted at him. Of course that had to be the topic at hand.

 

“Go away.” She then sped up has fast as she could. Goten could catch her, but at least he wouldn’t be able to talk to her. Bulla was home in matter of minutes, furious. On an impulse, Bulla left the house went into the business building. She knew Trunks would be in his office. She ran past his secretary and through the door. He looked up from his computer at her.

 

“Next time you feel like sending a babysitter to do your dirty work, have the spine to send someone other then your _best friend_ you idiot!” Before he could respond she had slammed the door and walked away. Her anger had gotten the best of her to the point where she didn’t even sense her mother come up behind her.

 

“Something I should know?” Bulla felt the blood rush to her face. “Or are you taking up Vegeta’s habits of scaring the employees?”

 

Bulla shook her head. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have just shown up here like that. Trunks and I are just…” She gestured to his office door. “He needs to mind his own business.” Bulma nodded her understanding.

 

“Is this about your mystery training partner?” Bulla couldn’t stop the look of surprise on her face. Bulma laughed. “I wasn’t born yesterday. I was the one that pulled Son Goku out of the woods, remember?” Bulla’s mother put her arm around her and started walking with her to the front. “I’m going to trust that you know what your doing. I’ll talk to Trunks and your father-” She jumped a little. Since when did her father get involved? “He wasn’t born yesterday either. Your father is caught between concern and pride. He admires your determination, but he’s also worried about who this individual is. I’ll talk to both of them and get them to give you some space.”

 

They had reached the main entrance. Bulma reached for her daughter’s hair and started to fix it into a braid. “I have spent virtually my whole life around fighters who constantly crave more strength, more challenges. I know the urge to push yourself is strong one.” Once her brain was done Bulla turned to her mother to say something, but she was cut off. “It’s also a blinding one. Promise me that you’re keeping a good head on your shoulders?” All Bulla could do was nod hear head. She leaned over and gave Bulma a kiss on the cheek.

 

“I promise.” Bulla walked away from the business building and headed into the house.

 

True to her word, her mother must have spoken to her father and brother because that was last interference she received from Trunks. Her brother even attempted a half-hearted apology when she saw him at breakfast the next day. “It’s kind of my job to make sure you’re not doing anything stupid. But whatever, sending Goten to try to get it out of you was a dick move.” She accepted the apology with a sideways glance at her father’s GR where he had been since dawn. She used to know his mood swings and inclinations as well as her mother did. The fact that he had her figured out from the get-go and she had no clue worried her slightly. Bulla decided not to stress out about it too much since the damage seemed to be done.

 

She was worried that her next few training sessions with Seventeen might be awkward after the last conversation they had. She was immediately disproven when they continued in the same way they had been without any real change in their training or the little conversations they shared after. _He must not think of sex has being something that leaves him vulnerable as most others._ Bulla was still very confused about why had reacted that way when she had reached for his shirt. He was smart enough to know there were no sexual motives behind it. What was he afraid that she would see? Bulla thought it best to let the matter drop.

 

After four and a half months she was finally giving him a run for his money. They seemed to be coming close to evenly matched. She could almost see him when he moved. Even when she couldn’t she had his attack thought process pretty well figured out and could predict where he attempt to attack from next. She was beginning to get some attacks in as well. Maybe it was her overconfidence that led him get in such a successful counter move.

 

Bulla had been thrown back far enough to hit the end of the clearing and slam her back into a tree. She felt a stub of wood pierce her skin and hit the bone. The pain was disorienting. She doubled over and felt the wet stickiness of blood seeping through her clothes. Seventeen approached her and looked at the injury for a moment. “It would be unwise to continue with this injury. Come inside.” Bulla followed him inside, refusing to admit that it had become hard to walk. Somehow she made it inside. “Lay facedown on the bed. I have medical supplies that should be adequate for this injury.” She was laying and trying the breathe through the pain into his sheets while he recovered something from under the sink.

 

She felt him lift cut apart her shirt in the back. “There are splinters. I am going to remove them. This will hurt.” Kami, did it hurt. “There are no fractures or punctured wounds. Your saiyan blood is already quickening the healing process.” She felt him apply something that stung.

 

“How do you know that?” She heard him unwrap another bandage. She should buy him more of those.

 

“I was built to kill humans, saiyans, and half-saiyans. My knowledge of anatomy is excellent to use for killing people, but can be applied to other uses. Sit up.” Bulla wondered if Eighteen made comments like that she was just never around to hear them. “I am going to remove the rest of your shirt to get the wrap all the way around.” She was wearing a bra, and he was right. The shirt was torn and cut to hell anyway. He removed the tattered and bloodied cloth and started the wrap. She suddenly realized that she was half naked with him so close that she could feel the heat of him (was his body heat from his human parts that remained?) on her skin.

 

It her then has he moved her arms to allow him to finish. She wanted him. Bulla had always known that he was attractive, but now she _wanted_ him. Arousal suddenly began to heat her body and she was grateful that he didn’t have a saiyan sense of smell that would give her away. She felt her breath hitch when he pulled away from her. “I’m going to give you a jacket from the woman who lived her before me. It’s too big, but going home like that may be more trouble than it’s worth.” Seventeen approached with what looked like a flannel over shirt. She realized that he was offering to help her put it on. She stood and he moved behind her to offer assistance. It was less out of charity and more out of necessity. Seventeen must have realized she was barely able to move her arms without being taken over by a painful sensation.

 

Bulla would later blame it on a combination of the deliriousness of the pain and bring overcome with a new desire. When Seventeen came back around to her front she crashed her lips into his. He was completely still at first. Not reacting, but not pushing her away. She pulled away for a moment. What had she done? Before that thought could finish Seventeen had gripped the back of her neck and pulled her into him again. He was slow, and deliberate.

 

Seventeen had pulled away from her suddenly. “It is six-fifteen. I have to go.” And he went, leaving Bulla somewhere between stunned and amused.

 

_Now what?_


	3. Chapter 3

Bulla had barely managed to stumble into the door of her bedroom and lay on her stomach. She was just breathing in and out slowly trying to tune out the pain. The flight home had been harder than she thought with the wound on her back. A knock at her door came as a surprise. She could sense it was her father. “Come in!” He was clearly still in the middle of a heavy training session. Covered in sweat and shirtless. Vegeta was usually insistent that he take a shower two or three times a day. Especially when he was training. For someone who spent decades roughing in the most obscure parts of space, he seemed to hate being dirty. His eyes focused on where the pain was coming from and she realized he must have sensed it when she got home.

 

“Let me see.” Bulla sat up and obeyed, lifting the back of her flannel shirt and turning away from him. She felt experienced hands lift the bandage and wrap. He studied it for a few moments before pressing against the sides of the puncture causing a surge of pain again. She gasped and immediately regretted it. “It was treated well, but you will stay home tomorrow and rest.” She knew better than to argue. His tone remained even. “If you were completely human this could have killed you.” He continued to apply the slightest bit of pressure on different areas of her back. A familiar sensation of pain being ebbed away came over her. “Are you-”

 

“Kakarrot thinks this method can only be applied to head injuries. As is usually the case he is wrong. Their needs to be a bit more grace to it than he might think to use, but it can be used for almost any manor of injury.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

“Next time, I will let you sit in here and suffer for your foolishness.”

 

“I understand.” He snarled at her then.

 

“Clearly, you understand _nothing._ This is not an injury that should occur in training. _You cannot handle this kind of abuse._ ” The bandage and wrap were being placed back onto the wound. “I realize I’m wasting my breath on this issue. You seem to think that you know better than I do what your limits are. Even I must admit you have gotten stronger then I would have thought. That’s my blood in you.”

 

Bulla realized that he was complimenting her in his own way. Unwilling to end the moment she remained silent. “Stay in bed. Someone will change the bandage tomorrow.” The door closed loudly behind him. The feeling of not being in pain was absolute euphoria at that moment and Bulla fell asleep in seconds.

 

Her eyes opened to sunlight creeping into her room through the window. She must have been out all night and into the morning. The smell of food came to her and she saw a plate next to her bed. When she sat up she felt a blanket fall away. “Thanks, Mom.” She made the statement to no one in particular and dug into the plate. Bulma Briefs knew how to feed a saiyan. There was bread, meat, some vegetables, and a side plate of ramen. The whole thing was covered so it had stayed warm despite however long ago it had been placed there.

 

By the time she was done another presence was approaching her room. Trunks. “Come in!” He carried a kit under his arm has he mad his way to her bed.

 

“Time to change those bandages. How does it feel?”

 

She turned around and lifted the back of her shirt. “Better.”

 

“Sleeping for sixteen hours will do that.” He removed all the trappings and threw them into her trash. “You managed to a number on yourself here. This may be your first scar, Princess.”

 

“Please don’t call me that.” She heard him chuckle at her distaste for her nickname has her back burned from the open air. Trunks cleaned around the edges with cotton balls. “Remember last time I did this for you and Goten?”

 

“We had managed to nearly burn the skin off of our arms testing Gotenks’ limits now that we’re a bit older. Who knew fusion was so much more complicated when you’re an adult? I don’t think you need a wrap anymore.”

 

“I wish I could have seen what it was like when you fought Buu.” She felt Trunks’ ki shift with negative emotion.

 

“You really don’t.”

 

“I didn’t mean it like that. I just bet you and Goten kicked ass when you were fused. I know it must been horrible to have the weight of the human race at your feet before you turn eight.” She felt her brother close the medical kit and she let her shirt fall before turning to face him. It felt important that she make him understand. “I would never wish for something to threaten our home and our family, but at the same time… I want to feel that rush. That adrenaline that comes from a fight that is the highest stakes that there is. I don’t know what kind of person that makes me. But I’m not ready to write-off that part of myself.”

 

Trunks looked at her for a few moments. Then his eyes moved to the wall. “Can I tell you a secret?” She nodded. “I used to be jealous of the other me.” Bulla was immediately confused, so he clarified. “The me from another timeline. He shows up like a badass and kills the bad guy out of nowhere. He get’s to train with Father in the hyperbolic time chamber, fight another big bad, die and come back, all the while having arms bigger than his head.” He sighed. “I used to feel like people would look at me and see what I could have been. That I had disappointed everyone.” Bulla got the impression that this was something he didn’t share very often.

 

“I told Mom once how I felt and she pointed out to me something I had never thought about. That version of me was _almost broken_ by the pressure put on him. Going back in time? That’s desperation. He became who he was because he had _nothing._ He didn’t have father, or you, or even Goten. There was nothing but death and despair in his life. In that situation you become steel or you break.” Her brother touched the back of his head and his voice became almost a whisper. “I have never felt like more of an ass. My life is blessed in endless ways because of his suffering. All I can do is make the best of who I am now and thank Kami every day for the peace and the people in my life.”

 

Bulla was speechless. He leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. “I hear you, I really do. But I want you to hear me out too, okay?” She nodded and he moved to leave. He turned to her one more time. “You into him, aren’t you? The guy you’re training with.” She felt a blush and started stuttering.

 

“It’s not-he’s just-”

 

“I’m not judging you. Just… Please be careful.” At that he left her with her thoughts.

 

Has she walked through the mountains the next she kept Trunks’ words on forefront of her mind. Why was she really doing this? For her father? For the Earth? For herself? She realized it almost didn’t matter in the end because she needed to continue. Bulla was just now truly feeling herself tap into the bloody heritage she had inherited. She wasn’t willing to give it up now.

 

How she felt about Seventeen was a separate matter entirely in her mind. She wanted him; there was no question of that. But it was him who had pulled her into a second kiss. Usually she would say that meant that he wanted her has well, but with Seventeen it was a tough call. He sometimes did things like that because it was expected or because it was what he thought she wanted. Did his (for lack of a better word) programming allow him to _want_ in that way? She knew Seventeen could at least be counted on to ignore the issue until it was staring him in the face. He didn’t do _awkward._ Thank Kami. Bulla pushed all that to the back of her mind when she saw him leaning against his door way expectantly and she immediately entered into super speed and rushed him.

 

When he handed her a water bottle from his fridge an hour later he broke the silence first. “Kissing is still considered sign of mutual attraction, correct?” Bulla froze in the middle of sipping water before answering.

 

“Uh… Yes.” He nodded in affirmation.

 

“I suppose it was inevitable. I’m designed to be-”

 

“Alluring. Yes, we went over that. Do you think that is why I kissed you? Because you have a cute face?”

 

“Why else would you kiss me?” He really thought he was nothing more than a machine. She felt something stir in her beyond desire.

 

“You are a person who was built to destroy but has instead chosen to protect the life in this place. You are a person who saw me immediately not for whose daughter I was but for what I could accomplish on my own. _You are someone who lived through an experience that could drive someone else mad._ ” Unwilling to leave things on a too serious note, she added one more point. “You are also the first man to draw real blood from me without hesitation.”

 

The silence seemed to stretch for forever. His face was completely unchanging, but she knew that he was processing everything she said. Finally she couldn’t stand it anymore. “That’s why I kissed you. Did you kiss me just because I’m attractive?”

 

“Maybe you’re the first woman to ever draw real blood from me.”

 

Bulla laughed until her sides hurt. She stood up. “Time for me head home. See you in two days.” She stopped when Seventeen grabbed her wrist. When she turned to question him, his face was inches from hers. He spoke in a hushed tone.

 

“I will never change. My power will never increase or decrease. I will not age. I will not become more or less of what I am over time.” He reached out to brush back a strand of hair that had fallen into her face. “You change more and more every time you come back here. You grow older. You understand the world a little more. Sometimes a little less.” He leaned foreword then, his forehead touching hers. “You have had the expectations placed on you that you know are probably correct. That you will never more that what you are. And yet you came here to seek out a being built with hate and death in order to fight against those expectations. That is why I kissed you.”

 

Bulla had the feeling that what he just shared with her was more intimate than any sexual act her body craved. Only his sister probably shared these feelings with him. And he had shared this with her. She brought a hand up and gently lifted his face with her finger. For the second time she pushed their lips together. Unlike last time, he responded. Moving his lips against hers and allowing her tongue entrance. It only lasted for a few minutes before they separated. They stayed like in his cabin for a bit. This was a different kind of quiet from the ones Bulla hated. This one was full of meaning.

 

When she left that day, she knew there was no going back. Something was stirred. Things had been said that could not be unsaid. At night she started to dream of him occasionally. Some of the dreams were nightmares. Him hurting the family her mother and father had built. Him being cut into over and over again, unable to scream because his throat was in pieces on the floor of a lab. Some were erotic. Seventeen was kissing her, moving against her.

 

Their training sessions didn’t change that much. They stole kisses from each other every once in a while. Every once in a while Bulla would feel something hard against her thigh and it would make her hesitate. She had never been in a relationship for that long when there was a sexual aspect. What pace where they going at?

 

Seventeen addressed this one afternoon. “For you the physical and the emotional ties we share connected. For me it is less so.” She narrowed her eyes incredulously has he wrapped her sprained ankle. “I’m not saying I don’t want you in that way. My body is not really my own. It is parts put together by someone else. I am not exaggerating when I say that for me, the physical aspect of out relationship does not mean has much to me has it does to you. You set the pace, I’ll follow.”

Trunks and Goten once walked by her in the hallway after she had gotten home and Goten ran into the nearest room. Trunks gave her the look of someone who was deeply uncomfortable. “Shower before coming home smelling like you are ready for a frat party.” She made a point of rinsing herself off in Seventeen’s shower before heading home after that incident.

 

This was their routine for another seven weeks. Before she knew it winter had rolled around. Seventeen told her that since most of the animals that lived in the mountains were hibernating and didn’t require as much looking after he didn’t need to start his nightly rounds until seven. This let their time together stretch a bit. It was nice.

 

Walking in the snow she was coming close to his cabin when something was off. Bulla has never been able to sense Seventeen’s life energy. Why was there a life sign there now? A powerful one. Powerful and pure. It overwhelmed her senses it was so bright and strong. That could only be one person. She ran to the cabin, a world wind of possibilities ran though her head, most of them not good. She got to the front of the cabin and realized they were inside. Something occurred to her. How did she even know if Seventeen was alive?

 

She slammed open the front door to see Seventeen leaning against the counter staring at his guest with annoyance and a very confused Son Goku looking in her direction. There was a moment of awkwardness until she closed the door and said a breathy, “Hey .” She felt stupid. Goku was not a person who would just show up and hurt someone for no reason.

 

Goku blinked for a few moments before recovering. “Hey, Bulla. …What are you doing here?”

 

Seventeen gave a terse response. “I was expecting her, unlike you.” Goku laughed and looked back at Seventeen.

 

“Fair enough. Will you consider what I’ve said at least?” Seventeen gave Goku a look that could have stopped the coldest of villains. But Son Goku just stared back at him optimistically.

 

“Come back tomorrow. I will have a definite answer for you then.” Goku nodded and looked at Bulla. She felt herself shrink back at the realization that she was looking at the most powerful man who may ever live.

 

“How are you? You came up to my knees last time I saw you.”

 

“Ten years will do that. I didn’t feel your energy when you came back.” If Goku was here something had to be wrong. World endingly wrong. She tried to keep herself calm. Her own flawed abilities aside; Son Goku was considered the best at sensing someone’s intentions from a world away. He nodded.

 

“Been keeping things under wraps for now. Your Dad was the first to know that I’m here. Are you guys frie-” Seventeen cut him off.

 

“Don’t you have more important things to do?” Goku frowned at him.

 

“I guess you’re right. I’ll be back tomorrow.” He flashed Bulla a smile. “Good to see you.” Goku placed two fingers on his forehead and disappeared.

 

“What was that about?” Seventeen shrugged.

 

“As per usual, the savior of the universe doesn’t have time to do most of the saving himself.” Bulla felt herself panic.

 

“What’s going on?” Her tone was high pitched and hurried. He frowned at her.

 

“Calm down. A village near where Goku was staying was having some trouble keeping their wildlife population up. Since they are a hunting village they have had to give up their livelihood. That still hasn’t helped.” He sighed. “Apparently there is some kind of radiation effecting the animal population. It seems harmless enough to humans at the moment, but he asked me to check and see if I can figure out where it’s coming from. My cyborg aspect will be resilient against foreign contaminants and I have experience maintaining a natural environment.”

 

She felt herself let go of a breath she had been holding. “Goku is usually the cavalry for a planet wide emergency. I saw him and I started freaking out.” She took off her winter jacket and placed it on the bed. “Will you go?”

 

“I don’t know. Probably. I wouldn’t be gone but for a few weeks, and having Son Goku owe you a favor might be too good to pass up.” Her phone ringing suddenly jolted him from his thoughts and he aimed his annoyed look at her. She looked at the ID. Goten. She declined it and put it back in her pocket. It rang again. “Just answer it. Could be that planet wide emergency.”

 

She sighed and answered. “Yes?”

 

“Guess what?!?” Goten was almost yelling into the phone.

 

“Your Dad is home.”

 

“My Dad is- Wait. How did you know? He just showed up.”

 

“Ran into him while he was taking care of some business. Why are you calling ME with this information?”

 

“I was hoping you were with Trunks. He’s not answering. What has you in such a foul mood, Princess?”

 

“People assuming my brother and I are attached at the hip when in face _you two_ are the ones who are married. Also, if you call me Princess again I am going to punch you in the groin.” She hung up. Seventeen was grinning at her.

 

“What?”

 

“I have a new incentive for our game.” She didn’t like the sound of that. “It’s been six months since we started.” Had it been that long?

 

“Until you win outright in one of our sessions, on top of having to walk here from the entrance to the area.” He looked at her with mischief. “I’m calling you Princess.”

 

“You wouldn’t dare.”

 

“I definitely dare. Extra motivation to stop letting me use you has a punching bag.”

 

She stood up and made her way to the door. “Let’s begin for today then.” At that Seventeen tilted his head and frowned slightly.

 

“Nah.” That threw her for a loop and she froze at the doorknob. This was a first.

 

“What?”

 

“I’m leaving for a while. There are other ways I’d rather spend the time.”

 

She arched her eyebrows. “Oh, really?” He rolled his eyes.

 

“Don’t be crude. Help me make one last round around the mountain.”

 

She smiled at him has they walked out the door. It was less eventful than the first times she assisted him since most of the animals were still hibernating. Most of their work consisted of finding and cleaning out the traps left by poachers and holing up the fences. A few of the animals had to be relocated to more secure locations.

 

It was dark by the time they returned to the cabin. She was covered in dirt caked snow, so she took off her over shirt and wrung it out over the sink. Bulla also took off her jeans, leaving her in nothing except her shorts and her undershirt. She finished and hung her soaked clothes over the railing in the shower and turned to him.

 

Seventeen was staring at her. She stared back at him. Her desire suddenly took over.

 

Bulla reached out to his shirt, feeling a sudden boldness taking over. Seventeen grabbed her hands. “Don’t start something you can’t finish.” She looked into his eyes and saw a genuine vulnerability there. What was he so afraid of? Her hands continued to lift his shirt up. He lifted his arms to allow her to pull it off of him. Nothing could have prepared her for what she saw.

 

His whole upper body was covered in white surgical scars. There were very few pieces of skin where his natural skin tone was saved from being cut. She reached out to touch them. They were smooth. Some where oddly shaped from being reopened so many times.

 

Bulla has disliked many people in her life. She had never truly hated someone though. Bulla felt hate enter her heart for the first time. Dr. Gero had cut into Seventeen until there was almost nothing left. “He deserved so much worse than death.” She took the opportunity to look into his eyes. There was something she didn’t recognize there. Not for first time, she wished she could sense his ki and see what it told her.

 

Seventeen reached down and pulled her into a kiss. She let him take the lead this time. It started slow and then quickly heated up when his tongue made it’s way into her mouth. Bulla groaned. She wanted him so fucking much it _hurt._ He picked her up and they made their way to the bed. His hands were under her top and he was pulling it off of her before it occurred to Bulla that she was wearing a built in bra and would now be bare before him. “You’re beautiful, Princess.”

 

“Not to bad yourself.” She switched their positions before he had a chance to object. She began kissing along his scars. Bulla felt his breathing become heavier and she know she had hit the jackpot. She began to unbuckle his jeans and pull them down. His erection was freed and it was _something to behold._ Granted, she was limited in experience. But she was almost certain he was out of proportion in a good way. Bulla was tempted to ask him what to do, but she felt like experimenting.

 

She bent down and put him in her mouth. His breathing became heavier. Good sign. She took him in as slowly and carefully as she could. Avoiding teeth seemed like common sense. She began a rhythm. “Faster.” She complied. Bulla took a moment to wonder if it was what he was that allowed him to sound so calm even in such a situation. Probably. He shuddered and she felt something at the back of her throat. Oh. Well that’s kind of gross.

 

She kept her comment silent and sat up to watch him recover. The wind was taken out of her when again she found herself laying on the bed. “Your turn, Princess.” He was kissing her breasts. She cried out when he nibbled at her slightly. “Thought you might like that.” He kept making his way downward. Kissing his way until he met the beginning of her shorts. He looked up at her for assurance and she nodded vigorously. He removed her shorts slowly and deliberately. Kami, she was going to kill him for this torture.

 

When they were finally off, he took a moment to kiss her inner thigh and continuing to kiss his way upward. Bulla suddenly realized what he intended to do. “Wait. You don’t have to-” Seventeen offered her a grin.

 

“Trust me, Princess. It’s worth trying. Just sit back and relax.”

 

She did as instructed and leaned back. She felt his tongue and her breath hitched. Then he hit some kind of magic button that drove her senses haywire. Her back arched and she couldn’t even know what kinds of noises she was making. His fingers found her entrance and she felt the intensity increase when one and then two fingers starting entering her and joined the rhythm of his tongue. Bulla tried to call out his name but couldn’t manage to speak. Her senses suddenly heightened to a painful degree and then immense pleasure took over her system. She crashed into the bed and somehow the smell of her arousal in the air seemed more erotic than ever.

 

Seventeen was by her side again. She managed to get out, “Worth trying” in between gasps. He whispered to her, “My knowledge of human anatomy is very thorough. Even when I’m not killing people it can be useful.” She laughed and turned to face him. After a few moments of catching her breathe she was reaching over him and dug in his nightstand for a minute before she found what she was looking for. She handed him the condom. He didn’t need to be told twice. He unwrapped it and reached down to put it on.

 

He moved on top of her. “Stay relaxed. This will be painful.” She felt herself stiffen at the calculated nature of his voice. He leaned down and began to kiss her. His hands were on her breasts again when she felt the tip of him. He moved down to kissing her neck and pushed inward slowly. She felt her nails dig into his skin has her body adjusted to him. “It’s okay, Princess, it’s only me.” When he stopped she realized that it was not has painful has she thought it would be.

 

He began moving in and out of her at a steady pace. “Faster.” He was the one whofollowed the instructions this time. She felt his fingers at that magic spot again and Bulla couldn’t help but bite into his shoulder. She was gasping; it was so intense she almost couldn’t breath. His pace quickened and she could feel his breath hitching. “Come for me again, Princess.” That was it. Again her body was overcome with sensation and she felt him shudder again on top of her.

 

Seventeen buried his face in her neck and she felt him regain control of his breathing in moments. He rolled off of her and she moved onto her side so they were looking at each other face to face. After a few moments he ran his finger along her side and broke the silence. “My databanks have very little on saiyan sexual behavior. Do you think that it was different for you than it might have been if you were completely human?” Bulla mulled that over for a few minutes.

 

“My father says that saiyans are welcome to take a mate or ‘rut with anything that moves’ just like humans are. But when a saiyan marks a mate the bond is a powerful one, unbreakable even. Females are more driven to have babies with powerful fighters to produce powerful soldiers. That’s about all I know on the subject. So… I don’t think my attraction to you began to because your pretty,” Seventeen narrowed his eyes at the reminder of an earlier argument “but because you were so _strong.”_ Bulls shrugged. “In answer to your question… not really.”

 

Seventeen opened his mouth to say something else but was cut off by her phone ringing. She looked at the ID. Trunks. She almost clicked the decline button but the possibility of an actual threat made her hesitate. She threw Seventeen an apologetic look before answering and leaning back on the bed. “What?”

 

“Where are you?” Trunks’ tone sounded strained.

“With a friend. Why? Did something happen?”

 

“Like… a good friend? Your training partner?” She furrowed her brow in frustration. She knew Seventeen could hear everything on the phone. He shot her an amused look.

 

“Trunks, what do you want?” She could hear Trunks sigh. There was shouting in the background.

 

“Mom and I were in her office when Dad suddenly burst in and demanded to know if Mom or I knew that you were up to. He told me to get out, but Dad is not always the calmest person under normal circumstances, so it was kind of hard to miss the conversation. And well… remember when we were kids and Dad knew you had fallen into that hole behind the house because his connection to our ki is so strong?”

 

Bulla felt her face drain. She saw where this was going. “If I were you I would get home soon. I don’t think you want Dad to go looking for you and your… training partner.”

 

“What did he sense exactly?” Trunks cleared his throat.

 

“I don’t know. Really unfavorable words are being thrown around in there that I am not going to repeat at work, but it’s safe to say that he is probably aware of any extracurricular activities.”

 

There was a long stretch of silence.

 

“Sis, don’t panic. On his home planet, women are of age when they start their period. Once you get home he’s going to yell at you, lock himself in the GR for a few days, and then he won’t care.”

 

“Thank you for calling me, Trunks.”

 

“Your welcome. One more thing?”

 

“Yes?”

 

“It only gets more fun with pract-” She hung up the phone and quickly crawled out of the bed to search for her clothes.

 

“You’re anxious.” Seventeen had begun to put his own clothes on as well. “Don’t be. I’ve known your father a long time. He’s the last person to hold a grudge over natural biological urges.”

 

“You say the sweetest things.” She kissed him on the cheek. “Let me know when you get back?” He nodded and she bolted out of the door to face the music.

 

It felt like the longest flight home she had done in a long time. She realized that Trunks was right. Sixteen was the consenting age in this country, and she had come of age by saiyan standards long ago. He would yell about _pride,_ and _honor,_ and probably a few more traits of saiyan royalty. They would fight and the whole thing would blow over.

 

She took a deep breath before opening the door and walking into the living room. All the lights were off and no one was home, like the calm before a storm. She stretched out her ki senses and didn’t pick up anything. But her father was more than capable of hiding his ki from her so that didn’t mean anything. She walked into the kitchen and placed her phone on the counter. She should eat. This may end with her having to leave the house for a while.

 

Has she was rummaging through the fridge, the wind was knocked out of her has she was thrown across the room. Bulla heard the wall crack has she hit. The force was carefully carried out so that the wall would be destroyed and not her, but before she could form a sentence a hand was wrapped around her throat and she was forced to stand where she was against the battered plaster.

 

“ _Do you know what they did to the last princess of Vegeta who gave herself to every ingrate who passed her way?”_ Bulla remained silent and still. She had no memory of him ever being this angry and it being directed at her.

 

 _“She was thrown into the barracks and chained to the wall for the use of all manor of unseemly creatures. She lasted for years before she mercifully starved to death.”_ His voice was laced with malice, but he wasn’t yelling. No. He was striking her without throwing a punch.

 

“We are not on Vegeta-”

_“And yet you are a princess of Vegeta just the same.”_ His hand around her neck flinched and for the third time in her life, she was afraid her father might really try hurt her. But she would not cower.

 

“You don’t own me. It was my choice.” His hand flinched again.

 

 _“Who?”_ She remained silent. Seventeen was stronger than her father once, but that was long ago. She wouldn’t compromise his safety. Her father stared at her with eyes full of rsge, and she stared back at him.

 

 _“I can smell him on you, whore. Shall I track him down?”_ Bulla felt herself flinch at the word whore. Her eyes began to sting.

 

“He is someone who I respect and who has been in my life for a while now. That’s who he is.” She hated herself when she began to struggle to hold back tears. “I suppose when you and Mom had Trunks you can say the same, right?” That Trunks was conceived in sex due more to lust and stress over an impending apocalypse was hardly news. Love between her parents came later, she knew.

 

Another voice broke through her thoughts. “She’s not wrong, Vegeta.” Her mother’s words came from somewhere behind her father. “Put her down. Shaming our daughter only hurts you.” Bulla felt her feet touch the ground. Her father turned to her mother.

 

“ _I do not want that slut in my presence.”_

Then he disappeared.


	4. Chapter 4

_What was that?!_ Bulla leaned against the door to her bedroom and sank to the floor. She could not fathom what warranted such an out of control reaction from her father. She had a feeling the cold rage she had seen today was what Goku and the others had seen in him before she was born.  She sat on the floor in the dark, contemplating.

 

A sudden flaring of ki in the other room jarred her out of her thoughts. Trunks. Bulla didn’t flare her’s in response. She wasn’t interested in talking right now. After a few minutes he flared his energy again. Again she didn’t respond. Bulla hugged her knees to her chest.

 

She thought about her father’s outburst. _What made him go off like that?_ It really made no sense. Vegeta was no stranger to sex. He never gave any inclination to his children that he disapproved of them having sex. Trunks had one-night stands all the time and no one seemed bothered by it. She was not a child anymore. She should have known that he would be able to sense the changes in her ki that came with physical intimacy. Vegeta and Goku had both always been able to sense their children from across the planet, so that was a given.

 

Wait a minute.

 

How the hell was he even able to sense it? Losing her virginity shouldn’t have altered her ki at all.She realized something. _Changes in emotion alter they way others perceive my energy. He didn’t sense the_ physical _change, but the heightened emotions and sensations. Which means…_

Oh Kami.

 

Her father had sensed it when she had an orgasm. Correction. _Two_ orgasms.

 

Bulla grabbed the blanket hanging off her bed and dragged it over herself. No wonder he was flipping out. She wanted to die on the spot. How was anyone supposed to look Vegeta, Prince of the Saiyans, in the eye when he had sensed them _coming?_

 

She couldn’t even think about it.

 

She fell over on the floor under her blanket and contemplated a trip into space in order to avoid looking her father ever again.

 

 

She jumped awake at a knock. When did she fall asleep? Bulla sensed her mother. “Go away.”

 

“Wasn’t asking for permission.” The door opened and cracked when it hit her thigh. Bulma squinted at the lack of light. “Why are you lying on the floor without any lights on?” Her mother sighed and picked up the blanket. “You two are so much alike it scares me sometimes. That’s why you’re fighting! I’m not having any more self-pity from either of you. Get up and go out to breakfast with me.” Bulla refused to move and covered her face with her arms.

 

“No.”

 

“Once again, I’m not asking for permission. You and your father would both wallow in your misery until death if I let you. Get up and let’s go.” Bulla did not have the energy to fight, so she got up and followed her mom out the door. When they got to the car Bulla wordlessly buckled her seatbelt and leaned her face against the window. Her father’s energy was nowhere near. Mom had probably shuffled him out of the house too.

 

“Where did you send Dad?” Bulla smiled as the car left the property.

 

“I reminded him that we don’t know how long it will be until Goku leaves again, and this might be his only chance for a rematch in another decade.” When Bulla arched her eyebrow at her mother’s blatant manipulation of her father’s biggest insecurity, Bulma just continued to smile and shrugged. “He would have been ten times worse if he let this mess distract him from a fight with Goku.” At the words ‘this mess’, Bulla grimaced and leaned her face against the window again.

 

“Are you mad too?”

 

“I was a year younger than you… I have no right to be mad. Do you want to get the awkward questions I have a mother’s right to ask out of the way?” Bulla sighed and turned to look at her mother. She was watching the sky ahead of them, her features where relaxed and her ki was only emitting calm sensations of concern… and a bit of frustration. She knew that her mother had no intention to judge Bulla or make her feel guilty.

 

“Okay.” Bulma let the car down in front of one of their favorite diners. She turned to Bulla and took off her sunglasses to look her in the eye.

 

“Were you safe?” Bulla nodded. “Was everything…” Her mother bit her lip. “Were you the one in the drivers seat?” It was Bulma’s turn to smile and roll her eyes.

 

“ _Please._ ” Bulma returned her daughter’s smile and reached out to hold her hand.

 

“Was it what you expected?” Bulla looked to the side to think about her answer for a moment.

 

“The think is… I didn’t really _plan_ anything. I don’t think that he did either. It just kind of… happened. It was… really good.” People walked by their car, watching the women inside. Bulla felt exposed.

 

“My first time, we were both new at it and trying to figure it out has we went. It’s nice that you were with someone who clearly knew what they were doing. From what your father said it was a bit better than _good.”_ Bulla covered her face with her hands and felt all the blood in her body go to her face.

 

“ _Don’t remind me.”_ Her mother laughed. “I’m glad my humiliation is funny!”

 

“I have to admit, I don’t envy you that one. You and Vegeta just need to make sure to give each other space for a while.” Bulla put her hands down and huffed indignantly.

 

“You think _giving each other space_ will help this blow over?! I have never seen him that furious. Not at me!” Her voice had become a whine. Bulla and Bulma got out of the car. Bulla wondered over to her mother. Reverting to childhood gestures, she wraped her arms around her mother’s arm and leaned her head against her shoulder.

 

“Believe it or not, there was a time when your father was that angry all the time. You and Trunks mellowed him out more than you know.” They came to a booth and sat down. “When he stopped training you… I don’t think that you realize how hard that was on him. He has always felt that his connection with you and Trunks was hinged out sharing his people’s culture with you… which is pretty much teaching you how to fight. Your strength’s are very different from Vegeta’s and Trunks’, he couldn’t handle both of you the same. He realized you needed to find your own way.” Bulla stiffened. She hadn’t thought of it that way.

 

“It was too much for him. He half felt like he was losing you already, and then you kept all these secrets from us. What happened today was just the straw that broke the camel’s back. He was lashing out.” Bulla felt her eyes sting with tears.

 

“I didn’t mean to make you guys feel that way.” Her mother’s eyes seemed wetter than usual and her energy overwhelmed Bulla with a combination of love and sadness. She reached out and took her daughter’s hands in her own.

 

“It’s nothing a child ever does on purpose. One day, you’ll have kids of your own and see them grow into their own person and choose their own path. I promise it will hurt just as much. Your father was a very different person when Trunks was born than when you were born. It took time for him to allow himself to feel so strongly for other people, even his own son. Trunks had already helped save the world, a version of him at least, when Vegeta let himself love Trunks as much as he does. He fell in love with you when he first sensed your life. He wasn’t ready to see you get so far from him.”

Bulla bit down on her bottom lip. She wasn’t sure what to say. Her mother was looking over her menu. She didn’t seem fazed by any of it, as though it was the obvious thing in world. It reminded Bulla that her mother was the one who took in one of the most terrifying and infamous mass murderers in the universe without hesitation. Then they fell in love and had two children together. Of all the stories the z-fighters told, that was still probably the wildest. And that’s not even where the story of Bulma Briefs began. “Hey, Mom?”

 

Her mother looked up from her menu. “Hmm?”

 

“This seems like the right moment to tell you are the coolest person ever, and that I love you.” Bulma squeezed her hand.

 

“The first statement I was already aware of, but thank you for the reminder. As for the second, I love you too.”

 

Just then the waiter appeared. Bulma ordered a salad. Bulla ordered a burger, a basket of regular fries, a basket of sweet potato fries, a milkshake, bacon, and a bowl of fruit. Their waiter stared at her as though he was waiting for a punch line before walking away. “You saving room for later? You’re nowhere near your usual thirty thousand calories you usually hit when we come here.” Bulla shrugged.

 

“Chi-Chi will probably have a banquet ready when we go over tonight.” The gathering of the z-fighters was a given with Goku back in town. Bulma’s eyes narrowed.

 

“Assuming Goku is still alive tonight. Over ten years without so much as a phone call is a pretty big stunt even for him. If Chi-Chi doesn’t kill him, I might.” Bulla decided to leave the topic alone and enjoy her milkshake when it came. She realized there was one question her mother still hadn’t asked.

 

“You don’t want to know who it is?” Her mother shrugged and made room for the massive amount of food being brought to their table.

 

“If you haven’t told anyone yet, I doubt you will now. These things have a tendency to come out on their own when the time is right.” Bulla dug into her burger while her mother started picking apart her salad. “Besides, anyone who can train with you on the regular basis can handle themselves well enough to deal with our dramatics.”

 

Bulla choked on her burger. “I’m going to kill Trunks. He was the one who told you it was the same person I’ve been training with, right?”

 

“Don’t be mad at him. I pretty much had it figured out. When I asked your brother about it he was stumbling over himself trying to cover for you so badly that he gave it away. He has his own stuff to deal with.” Bulla arched her eyebrow.

 

“Is he having trouble keeping track of his conquests?” Bulma’s face got slightly serious.

 

“Maybe.” Bulla looked at her mother expectantly, but she didn’t add to it. Was this something serious?

 

“What? Did he get someone pregnant? An STD? What?” Her mother looked at her salad and continued to say nothing.

 

“Woah. Is he really in trouble? _Come on_ , all my shit is out there.” There was a sigh, but her mother finally seemed to break.

 

“I don’t actually know, but I asked my assistant to keep her ear to ground and make sure that Trunks is at least acting like a _gentlemen_ with these girls. She got back to me and said that after asking around she found out something odd. He apparently takes girls out to various places and then just goes home and doesn’t call them again. He… hasn’t done anything sexual with anyone she spoke to.”

 

…What?

 

“Why… I mean… Just letting everyone think he carries around like that…”

 

Bulma smiled at her. “Gosh. Could he have secrets of his own? He’s certainly better at keeping them than _you_ are.” Her mother had a point.

 

“Fair enough.”

 

They ate in silence for the rest of their meal, both of them mulling over this information. Trunks was clearly putting a lot of effort into making sure everyone believed that he was sleeping around. That could only mean he was hiding something. A sudden thought hit her. “ _Mom, what if-“_

“I already looked into it, it’s not Goten.” Damn. That would have been awesome.

 

They were finishing up and their plates were being taken away when her mother chimed in with another idea.

 

“I’m thinking he’s dating someone your father wouldn’t be too happy about it. If your brother were just _gay_ he would have come out by now. They’re probably related to someone Trunks has known for a while or it wouldn’t have gone on for this long. Maybe they’re related to someone your father would rather blast himself in the foot than have to spend more time with.”

 

“What makes you think it’s about Dad?” Bulma just leveled her daughter with an even stare in reply. “Oh. Right.” Trunks lived for their father’s approval, he wouldn’t be keeping it such a secret unless he believed that was what it would cost him. Vegeta would only care about who Trunks was with if it put him around someone who annoyed him. _Or if it was someone who was a very real threat at some point._ The thought of what would happen if Vegeta found out it was Seventeen she had been spending her time with killed her appetite. She pushed the scraps left on her remaining plate away.

 

Her mother must have sensed her change in mood because she got up and gestured for Bulla to follow her to the cashier. After they paid, they sat in the car in silence for a few seconds before Bulma turned to Bulla, not willing to leave it at that. “I think both of you are ridiculous. After all your father has gone through up to this point, he isn’t going to stop loving you because he doesn’t like who you’re in a relationship with.” Before Bulla could recount the previous day’s events, her mother amended. “He may throw a temper tantrum, even be as hateful as he was yesterday, but I honestly don’t think that anything the two of you could do would _ever_ make him stop loving you.”

 

Bulla sighed in resignation. Her mother knew her father better than anyone. “I know.” Bulla was suddenly caught off guard by her mother tucking her hair behind her ear. Bulla smiled and leaned against her mother’s arm. The silence was more comfortable this time, so they allowed it to stretch for a while. Bulla broke it herself. “Thank you, Mom.”

 

Bulma smiled and starting driving back home “I think we should give the Son household a few hours before we head over there. Take a little bit to wash up and get ready for an evening of crying, screaming, and fighting.” The car settled to the ground and Bulla started making way to her room. The z-fighters and all of their families were about to shove into a two room house for way to long to wring out over a decade’s worth of pent-up emotion. Better to dress for anything.

 

As she stripped down and got into the shower she couldn’t help but think that even though she had chastised herself for considering Goku the harbinger of darkness, his coming come seemed almost like a religious experience. _Seventeen referred to him as ‘savior of the world’ at one point, so maybe there’s something to that._ The thought of yesterday with Seventeen made her heart skip a beat for a second.

 

 _Get a grip, Bulla._ She knew that sex was not as a big a deal to Seventeen as it was to her. He had always been very clear that becausehis relationship with his body was so off kilter, she was a better judge of how far and how fast the sexual relationship between them should go. The way he felt was apart from the physical.

 

So… how did he feel toward her, exactly? She didn’t really know.

 

Bulla pushed those thoughts away. Even if she had rushed into things, there was no going back now. They would have to sort that out together when he got back. As she got dressed she couldn’t help but smile to herself when she thought of his hands on her. She shuddered and felt her body heat up. Bulla stiffened and tried to focus her mind. Now was not the time. She stretched out her senses to see who else was in the house. Her father was still gone. Her mother was in her room, probably getting ready. Trunks was also gone. Goten seemed to be tense and sitting in the living room.

 

What was Goten doing here? She decided to investigate.

 

She found Goten lying on the couch flipping through channels. “Hey.” He didn’t pay her any mind. In fact, he didn’t even seem interested in anything on T.V. either. She decided push her luck and stretch her energy closer to his, feeling out his intentions. Lethargic. Resigned. Lonely.

 

 

He sat up and threw her an annoyed look. “Stop it. If you want to ask me something, ask. I have to have this conversation with Trunks all the damn time. _Boundaries.”_ Bulla had known Goten for her entire life, and she had never once heard him talk trash about her brother to someone else.

“You alright?”

 

“You’re the one who just got done invading my privacy so you tell me.” The emotional distance he was forcing in between them was so out of character for Goten. Bulla felt heartbroken on his behalf for whatever was going on. She lifted his feet and sat down at the end of the couch before putting his feet on her lap. He just continued to stare at her.

 

“I’m sorry I snapped at you yesterday.” He looked surprised for a moment. Then he sighed and was laying back down, not looking at her at all. Goten closed his eyes and put his arm over his face. She felt trace amounts of Trunks’ energy still in the core of his being, keeping her from wanting to leave him with whatever thoughts were hurting him. Her father told her once that fusion was like that. A bond beyond blood. “You are my brother in every way that matters. Please talk to me.”

 

“Because you haven’t been building walls between you and everyone else for _months_.” This was going somewhere. His _ki_ was brightening a bit. He wanted to talk.

 

“It’s not the same.” She felt his energy harden with frustration, blocking her out completely.

 

“Whatever. Do what you want.” Bulla furrowed her eyebrows, refusing to give up. She changed tactics.

 

“Why is half the planet trying to make their way to your house to see your Dad… but you’re here?” She felt Goten’s whole body stiffen. So that was it.

 

“I… decided to give him and Gohan some time alone.” Bulla let that sit for a minute. “He’s… going back in a few weeks.” Goten sat up and looked distantly to the side. “If he has no intention on staying, Gohan should get the time. He’s always needed him more than I do.”

 

“Even if you don’t need him the same way Gohan does… I can’t imagine that you don’t even want to _talk-”_ Goten cut her off.

 

“He asked me what grade I was in. I graduated four years ago. Then he left with your father before I could even answer. _Bulla, it took him a second to recognize me because he hasn’t seen me in over a decade.”_ He ran his fingers through his hair and seemed to take a breath. “I’m not angry. It just… harder to not think about the whole thing while he’s here.”

 

“I get it.” Goten looked her in the eyes and gave a smile so sad it almost put tears in her eyes.

 

“I don’t see how you could. Your Dad almost tore through our house because he is having some kind of breakdown due to your first ti-” Bulla gave him the meanest look she could and he changed gears. “Your first serious relationship. He’s always been here for you. I know what they tell us he _was,_ and I’m not saying I don’t believe that, but he changed and he’s been present. My Dad…” Goten trailed off and sighed. Bulla let him sit with his own thoughts. There was some irony in the fact that being the son of the savior sucks a lot more than being the daughter of the former villain.

 

“Let’s fight.” Now that sounded a lot more like Goten.

 

“I thought you and Trunks were afraid of invoking my father’s wrath?” Goten rolled his eyes.

 

“At this very moment, _you_ are closer to invoking your father’s wrath than me. So lets go outside and fight.” He jumped up. Those saiyan genes called him to punch something when a problem occurred. Even it wouldn’t solve anything. Bulla considered it. She hadn’t actually fought him since they were children. Goten practically inherited the super saiyan strength and speed that others had earned through blood and tears. She had long since accepted that that was a level she would never reach.

 

But she was stronger now than she had been in her whole life. Her sessions with Seventeen had gotten her that at the very least. And those limits begged to be pushed. No way was she missing this chance. She grinned at him. Those same saiyan genes pumped adrenaline through her heart at the thought of maybe even giving him a run for his money. Bulla stood. “Okay. Let’s go outside.”

 

The found themselves in the yard. “Don’t worry! I’ll go easy on you, _princess_.” Suddenly she couldn’t hear anything besides her heart beat. They had barely made it outside the house when she lunged at him.

 

“ _I am going to make you eat the ground.”_ Goten almost caught her wrist, but couldn’t quite catch her. He frowned for a moment but quickly gained his footing.

 

“That’s a pretty loud bark. There doesn’t seem to be much bite, though.” Bulla knew that this was his style. She had watched Goten and Trunks spar enough times to know that Goten liked to push buttons and get someone to sabotage themselves before he does any work himself. She realized hat Seventeen had beaten her the same way many times before. Bulla would dish out poorly thought out attacks and he would just make her lose her footing, or sometimes even catch her and get in an attack of his own. _But Goten didn’t catch me. I’m faster than he expected._ She could use that.

 

Bulla went in for a kick, slightly slower than her previous attack. Goten of course dodged and made a play to grab her leg. This left his torso completely open. Almost at her top speed, she moved her legs away from Goten and gripped his upper arm tightly. She felt his muscle tense and knew that he could get the best of her with strength alone so she threw him across the yard. Goten sat up and looked at her, his eyes had become dark and hard accompanied by a grin. Bulla grinned back. She just went from being a distraction to a challenge. “More bite than you were expecting?”

 

Goten was up, his stance had completely changed. He eyed her, reevaluating. She knew that he would try to bait her again. “I should have expected has much-” He was lunging in the middle of his sentence. He was faster than before, but she saw him coming. The elbow he had directed at her collar bone missed her when she went left. Bulla must have underestimated how much Goten relied on strength and strategy alone for her to be able to dodge him at this range. Either that or she had underestimated just how fast Seventeen truly was. “-from someone who’s been keeping company with the machine that nearly killed our parents.”

 

His words shocked her into stilling for just a moment, but that was all Goten needed to land a hit to the side of her head that sent her flying. She landed in the dirt across the yard. When Bulla got up her ribs ached. She must have sprained them hitting the ground. Goten landed beside her, looking smug.

 

“Looks like I’m not the one eating dirt.” The wind was still knocked out of her, so she grabbed the front his shirt and just growled. He put up his hands in surrender. “My Dad mentioned that he had been to see Seventeen and that you were there. The dots weren’t that hard to connect.” Bulla pulled Goten close to her face, trying to emphasize her point.

 

“If you tell anyone-”

 

“Already told Trunks. I won’t lie to you, there were a few jokes about having a boyfriend who runs on batteries that I saved just for this moment-” Bulla punched Goten in the face as hard as she could. He must not have been expecting it, because not only did she land the hit but he himself hit the ground a few feet from her. The ground cracked slightly underneath him. An unexpected chuckle from behind her caught her attention. Bulla turned to find her brother landing beside them.

 

“That was _way_ funny.” Goten was facing her, his eyes narrowed slightly as he rubbed his cheek. Trunks held out his hand and helped Goten up. “She _laid you out_ man.” Trunks then looked at her, there was something in his _ki_ that she had never felt directed toward her from him before. The respect that one fighter gives another. Bulla’s fists tightened and her heart raced.

 

“Want a go?” Trunks shook his head.

 

“Another time. Mom texted that she wants to get going in half an hour, and you-” He gestured toward her whole outfit, which she assumed was ruined. “-need to get ready.”

 

Damn. She had just showered. She turned to go inside but stopped short. “Hey guys…” Bulla bit the inside of her cheek. “About… Seventeen… that’s a secret for now.” Trunks and Goten didn’t hesitate to nod.

 

“We figured you probably had your reasons for keeping it under wraps. Don’t worry. But definitely expect a hard time coming your way.” Goten didn’t miss a beat before adding onto that. “Other than the hard-”

 

“ _Dude, she is still my little sister.”_ Goten shrugged and dusted himself off.

 

“Not so little anymore though, is she? There was a time when I could barely hold her hand without being afraid of breaking her fingers. Now I need to hit her like I hit you and Gohan just to win a spar.” Bulla hummed quietly and went into the house, feeling beside herself with pride. Who knows? Maybe one day she could give one of them a _real_ challenge.

 

After showering for the second time (she didn’t bother putting much effort into her outfit in case she got into another scuffle) Bulla headed downstairs to her irate looking mother who shuffled them all in the car and got them on their way. She couldn’t help but notice that her father still wasn’t with them. Not that Bulla blamed him. He couldn’t stand the z-fighters in a large group setting at the best of times.

 

That made it into an even bigger surprise when they found Vegeta already at the house sitting next to Goku in the front lawn. Bulla took a deep breath and steeled herself. He was going to be angry still. It might be better to just walk past and pretend she doesn’t see him, or maybe just leave altogether.

 

Bulla felt her nails dig into her palms. No. Avoiding him was the last thing she was going to do. It was like admitting she had done something wrong. It would be like admitting defeat.

 

And truly admitting defeat was not something Bulla Briefs did very often. Not even to Vegeta.

 

So she got out of the car and walked toward them. Her mother grabbed her arm. “ _Please_ don’t provoke him. You both need to cool your heads.” Bulla just stared at her mother. Trunks and Goten decided to take the opportunity to get into the house and out of dodge.

 

“I’m just saying hi.” Bulma made an annoyed sound and followed the boys into the house before shooting her daughter one more warning look.

 

Bulla walked right up to Goku and gave him a sincere smile. Goku smiled back. Her father looked in another direction as if he did not see her. _What a child!_ “Hey Goku! Good to see you again.” Her father’s energy began to slowly shift from indifferent to annoyed. She ignored it as Goku responded.

 

“Good to see you too. You know, now that I have a good look at you, I can honestly say that you look exactly like your mother did when we met. It’s uncanny!” Bulla couldn’t help but feel that ease that came with being around Goku. He was acting like it was just another day and he was commenting on the weather. It calmed her. It seemed to have the opposite effect on her father who’s energy was now almost flooding the vicinity with ill will. Apparently he thought that he had scared her yesterday, and that if he intimidated her some more she would go away. _No chance._

 

“Thank you. She talks about those days a lot. Sometimes I think she misses it.” Goku laughed.

 

“She wasn’t into the whole wondering in the wilderness thing at the time. I suspect that’s why she stayed put after Namek.” Goku suddenly squinted his eyes slightly at her abdomen. “Are you hurt?” Bulla was confused for a moment before she remembered that she had sprained her ribs earlier.

 

“Um. Yeah. I was sparring earlier and took a hit. I had mostly forgotten about it, actually. I’m surprised you could sense it.” Goku just smiled. Vegeta’s energy was almost burning and continuing to pit further and further into anger. She wondered if Goku was choosing to ignore her father’s mood, or if he simply didn’t notice it compared to his own immeasurable life force.

 

Goku made a gesture with his two fingers and she felt some that pure energy push away the lingering pains she hadn’t even known were there. She was pretty sure Goku hadn’t even known that technique until yesterday. And had mastered it. _Go figure._ “Energy sensing has always come easily to me. Who were you sparring with?”

 

“Goten.” And that was it. Vegeta’s energy had become _absolutely furious_. The feel of it gave Bulla goose bumps but she refused to react outwardly. Goku seemed to finally take notice and turned to frown at his rival. He seemed to think for a moment before deciding on what to do. Goku stood up.

 

“I’ll give you two some privacy.” He walked inside and left Bulla and her father sitting in the yard alone together.

 

There was a silence that could have gone on forever. Bulla didn’t care. _Let him stew until he breaks._ It turns out she didn’t have to wait for very long.

 

“You have no business sparring with Kakarrot’s youngest brat.” Really, that was what he wanted to focus on?! Bulla felt her own anger take hold in her chest.

 

“You told me yourself that I was getting stronger than you thought I could be. I’m alive, aren’t I? Goten even said that I it took some real effort to-” Her father scoffed.

 

“Those boys have more power than they know what to do with and refuse to train properly. If he had transformed before he hit you, you could be-”

 

Bulla refused to have this conversation again. “ _You’re not listening!_ I get better even when I lose. I’m learning how to take it.”

 

“Apparently.” It took her a few moments to process what her father had said. Her own fury was spilling around her. When she spoke her voice was shaking so much it almost sounded alien to her.

 

“Was calling me a _slut_ in front of my mother too subtle for you?” Bulla had an urge to lunge at him but she pushed it down. That would only end badly. The gnawing sensation at her heart urged her to hurt him in any way she possible could. “I just find it ironic. You getting so uptight about me having sex, that is. Considering what would have happened to _your wife_ if you and Nappa had found her when you first cam here and Goku hadn’t have fought you.”

 

Even has the last of the words left her mouth, Bulla knew she had gone too far. Regret filled every inch of her being. She felt for her father’s ki and it felt… detached. Like he was trying not to feel. She reached out to him. “Dad-”

 

“Go.” There was a note of desperation in his voice, so she obeyed and went into the Son household. She bee lined past the crowd of familiar faces to the bathroom, which was blissfully unoccupied. Once inside Bulla pressed her forehead against the mirror and let herself cry.

 

_How do I fix this mess?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry about the long wait for this update. My grown up job is super draining, so I mostly need to wait for time off to really sit down and do some writing.
> 
> Thank you for the wonderful praise I have gotten in the mean time. :)


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